How do you say Hannah Montana in Hebrew?

July 21, 2009 - 11:15 AM by David · 6 Comments
Filed under: General, Movies, Pop Culture, Sports

Miley Cyrus and Gregg Sulkin

The Maccabiah Games, which have been taking place in Israel for the last week, have brought thousands of the top Jewish athletes in the world together in competition and cameraderie.

Despite the complaints about lack of proper facilities for some delegations and the scandal about the softball tournament in the Baptist Village being shut down by police for not having proper permits (after all, what kind of event could there be in Israel without a little controversy or incompetence? – It’s our unique mark and we’re proud of it), the Games, for me, are still one of the highlights of Zionism in action – showing how Jews from all over can gather here, like coming home to the slightly disfunctional mothership.

There are hundreds of stories in the naked stadium – athletes who overcame diversity to compete, Ethiopian atheletes whose families are still stranded in their country, and of course, Miley Cyrus’s boyfriend.

British actor Gregg Sulkin, who is playing on his country’s soccer team has recently made waves as the teen-heartthrob boyfriend of actress-singer Cyrus, better known to millions of fans as her TV alter ego Hannah Montana.

The 17-year-old Sulkin was previously in Israel for his bar mitzva, which was held at the Western Wall. Because of his time spent in Jerusalem on his bar mitzva trip, he has come to “love the culture, the people, the food… just everything about Israel,” Sulkin told The Jerusalem Post. “I love how united Israel is as a country, as a family,” and later joked that “the weather here is so much better than in London.”

Sulkin has acted in various films and television shows – including the Disney Channel comedy As the Bell Rings and the Paul Weiland film Sixty Six with Helena Bonham Carter. He’s flying to Los Angeles directly after the Maccabiah Games in order to attend callbacks for a number of new parts.

Sulkin didn’t make any committments when asked if he’d try to get his girlfriend to accompany him on his next trip to Israel.

“If she wasn’t that busy, I’d love to persuade her to come to Israel, but she’s amazing at what she does and that’s why she’s always so busy. I wish she could come to Israel. Next Maccabiah, hopefully.”

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